Decision support system and method of operation thereof

ABSTRACT

A decision support system comprises a decision repository with at least one stored game play decision for a particular hand held by a player and a corresponding first card held by a dealer, in a game of blackjack, and a programming facility operable, selectively, by the player to amend the at least one stored game play decision. The decision repository has a stored game play decision for every possible combination of a particular hand held by the player and corresponding first card held by the dealer. The stored game play decision is a recommended game play decision for the player, namely a decision to hit, to stand, to split to double, or to surrender

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to a decision support system that enables a userthereof to play a game and, more particularly, to a decision supportsystem that enables a user thereof to play a game of chance, in thisinstance, a game of blackjack. The invention extends to a method ofoperation of the decision support system.

BACKGROUND TO THE INVENTION

The game of blackjack is well known and widely played in most land-basedcasinos.

At the simplest level, the game of blackjack is played between each oneof a number players, normally from 1 to 7 players, and a dealer whorepresents a “house”. During a turn of the game, each player is requiredto make an initial wager on the outcome of two separate hands of playingcards, one hand to be dealt to the player and the other hand to be dealtto the dealer, respectively. After making the initial wager, each playeris dealt two cards face up, and the dealer is dealt one card face up,from one or more decks of 52 playing cards.

Each card is deemed to have a point value as follows: a deuce to a tenis deemed to have a point value equal to the face value of that card; aJack, a Queen or a King is deemed to have a value of 10, while an Ace isdeemed to have a value of 1 or, optionally, 11, at the discretion of theplayer and the dealer, respectively.

Each player is then required to decide, on the basis of the two playingcards which have been dealt to him, and the dealer's exposed playingcard, whether to draw additional cards, one at a time, to augment theplayer's hand (that is, to “hit”), or not to draw any further additionalcards for augmentation of the player's hand (that is, to “stand”). Ifthe total point value of the cards in the player's hand exceeds 21 atany stage, the player is deemed to have “bust”, in which case theplayer's initial wager is forfeited to the house, and the player takesno further part in that turn of the game.

Once each player in that turn of the game has elected to stand, or hasbust, the dealer augments his hand by drawing additional cards, one at atime, according predetermined rules, an example of which may be:

-   -   1. the dealer must hit if the total point value of the cards in        the dealer's hand is less than 17;    -   2. the dealer must stand if the total point value of the cards        in the dealers hand in greater than or equal to 17;    -   3. the dealer busts if the total point value of the cards in the        dealer's hand is greater than 21. If the dealer busts while the        player has not, the player wins the initial wager at even money.

Where neither the player nor the dealer has bust, the outcome of thewager is decided by comparing the total point value of the player anddealer hands. If the players hand has the higher total point value, theplayer wins the initial wager at even money. If the dealer's hand hasthe higher point value, the player's initial wager is forfeited to thehouse. In the event that the total point values of the player anddealers hands are equal, the outcome of the game is a tie and theinitial wager is neither forfeited nor won by the player. There arenumerous variations to these rules of the game of blackjack, which arenot material to the invention, and which will not be described here indetail.

It is known that the game of blackjack is a game where a player's skillis a major determinant of success or failure in the game. It is alsowell known that an unskilled player should play the game according to acertain predefined basic strategy in order to minimise an advantage thatthe game offers to an operator of the game. A disadvantage of the gameof blackjack is that the rules of the basic strategy can be tedious tolearn and to master. A further aspect of the game of blackjack is that anumber of turns of the game are dealt from a shoe consisting of,typically, five conventional decks of 52 playing cards each. Successiveturns of the game are thus not independent and are influenced by thecards that have been dealt from the shoe in preceding turns of the game,until the five decks in the shoe are re-shuffled. An unskilled playercan thus find the game of blackjack particularly daunting and bereluctant to play the game for fear of making incorrect game playdecisions.

It is desirable for an operator of a game of blackjack that the rate atwhich successive turns of the game can be played be speeded up in orderto increase a turnover of wagers that are made on the game.

OBJECT OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of this invention to provide a decision support system,and a method of operation thereof, that will, at least partially,alleviate the above-mentioned difficulties and disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention there is provided a decision supportsystem, comprising:

-   -   a decision repository having at least one stored game play        decision for a particular hand held by a player and a        corresponding first card held by a dealer, in a game of        blackjack; and    -   a programming facility operable, selectively, by the player to        amend the at least one stored game play decision.

Further features of the invention provide for the decision repository tohave a stored game play decision for every possible combination of aparticular hand held by the player in the game of blackjack and acorresponding first card held by the dealer, for the stored game playdecision to be a recommended game play decision for the player, and forthe recommended game play decision to be any one of a decision to hit,to stand, to split, to double, or to surrender.

Still further features of the invention provide for the system toinclude a display facility configurable to display to the player anyrecommended game play decision from the decision repository, therecommended game play decision corresponding to a combination of aparticular hand held by the player in a turn of the game of blackjackand a corresponding first card held by the dealer, alternatively for thedecision support system to be configurable to automatically control theprogress of at least one turn of the game of blackjack in accordancewith any recommended game play decision from the decision repository,without intervention from the player.

The invention extends to a method of operation of a decision supportsystem, comprising the steps of:

-   -   providing a decision repository having at least one stored game        play decision for a particular hand held by a player and a        corresponding first card held by a dealer, in a game of        blackjack; and    -   selectively operating a programming facility to amend the at        least one stored game play decision.

There is further provided for storing in the decision repository astored game play decision for every possible combination of a particularhand held by the player in the game of blackjack and a correspondingfirst card held by the dealer, for recommending a stored game play gameplay decision to the player when a combination of a particular hand isheld by the player in the game of blackjack and a corresponding firstcard is held by the dealer, and for recommending to the player any oneof a decision to hit, to stand, to split, to double, or to surrender.

There is still further provided for displaying to the player anyrecommended game play decision from the decision repository on a displayfacility configurable to display to the player, the recommended gameplay decision corresponding to a combination of a particular hand heldby the player in a turn of the game of blackjack and a correspondingfirst card held by the dealer, alternatively for automaticallycontrolling the progress of at least one turn of the game of blackjackin accordance with any recommended game play decision from the decisionrepository, without intervention from the player.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A preferred embodiment of the invention is described below, by way ofexample only, and with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a decision support system,according to the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Referring to FIG. 1, a decision support system is indicated generally byreference numeral (1). The decision support system is shown inconjunction with a gaming facility, indicated generally by referencenumeral (2) for playing a game of blackjack at an on-line casino (notshown).

The gaming facility (2) includes a gaming server (3) and a player accessfacility (4) in the form of a computer workstation with an associateddisplay monitor (10) and a pointing device (11), such as a mouse or,alternatively, a touchpad. The computer workstation (4) is locatedremotely from the gaming server (3) and communication between thecomputer workstation and the gaming server is provided across acommunication network (5) that is, in this embodiment, the Internet.

The computer workstation (4) operates under control of a stored program(6), the precise operation of which is not germane to the scope of theinvention, and which will not be described here in detail. The storedprogram (6) enables the player to play the game of blackjack at theon-line casino (not shown). The blackjack casino game consists of aserver process, which is executable on the gaming server (3), and aclient process that is executable in the computer workstation (4) andwhich is the stored program (6). The server process simulates, uponrequest of the client process, one or more random events, such as thedealing of individual cards in a hand of blackjack to the player and toa dealer representing a casino operator, or house. The stored program(6), or client process, allows the player to make wagers on a turn ofthe game, and to effect decisions on the turn of the game, such asstanding, hitting, splitting, doubling and surrendering, as a functionof the cards which are held by the player and the dealer, respectively,at any stage during the turn of the game.

The decision support system (1) consists of a decision repository in theform of a rules database (7), and a decision support softwareapplication program (8), which is executable in the computer workstation(4). The rules database (7) contains, for each possible combination ofthe cards of the blackjack hand held by the player, and a first cardheld by the dealer, a corresponding stored game play decision. Eachstored game play decision is an optimal, or recommended, game playdecision for the player corresponding to a particular combination ofheld cards. Each recommended game play decision is a decision to hit, tostand, to split, to double, or to surrender, as appropriate, as afunction of the held cards.

In use, during a turn of the game of blackjack, when a first two cardshave been dealt to the player and a single card has been dealt to thedealer, the decision support application program performs a lookup inthe rules database (7) as a function of the dealt cards and displays tothe player on the computer workstation (4) a corresponding recommendedgame play decision. The recommended game play decision is displayed tothe player on the computer workstation by means of a dialogue box or abutton. The player is then able to either follow the recommended gameplay decision, or to ignore it, at his discretion. A further game playdecision is recommended to the player in this manner at every subsequentdecision point in the turn of the game of blackjack, such as where theplayer has previously hit, split or doubled in that particular turn ofthe game.

It will be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the decisionsupport system (1) described above will enable the player to play thegame of blackjack without having to memorise any game play strategy, assuch a strategy can be encoded in the rules database (7). It isenvisaged that the decision support system (1) will heighten a player'senjoyment of the game as it enables the player to make a correct gameplay decision at all decision points in the game, and will help tosustain the player's interest in the game over a period of time.

The technical problem solved by this invention is to provide a decisionsupport system that provides a player with real-time feedback on gameplay decisions required to play a game. The game play decisions can beimplemented and executed by the player in a “man-in-the-loop”configuration. Alternatively, the decision support system may include aclosed loop feedback path and a control engine that automates the gameplay strategy without further intervention from the player. The gameplay strategy is configurable at the instance of the player.

Numerous modifications are possible to this embodiment without departingfrom the scope of the invention. In particular, the decision supportapplication program (8), which is executable in the computer workstation(4) can provide a programming facility (not shown) that is selectivelyoperable by the player to amend any one or more of the stored game playdecisions in the rules database (7). In this manner, the player canamend the rules database (7) to conform to any desired playing strategythat the player wishes to adopt while playing the game. The rulesdatabase (7) can thus be amended to implement a playing strategyappropriate for any one or any one or more of a number of well-knownvariants of the game of blackjack. The programming facility also enablesthe player to automatically restore the rules database (7) to a defaultset of game play decisions. Further, as an alternative to providing theplayer with a recommended game play decision at every decision point ina turn of the game, the decision support application program (8) can becoupled to the stored program (6) in the computer workstation (4) toautomatically control the progress of each turn of the game of blackjackwithout requiring intervention from the player.

Still further, the decision support software application program may beexecuted in the gaming server (3), instead of in the computerworkstation (4). Yet further, the decision support system (1) can beapplied to control the progress of a game of blackjack in self-containedapparati that do not operate in an on-line environment, such aselectronic gaming devices of a type commonly found in land-basedcasinos, or hand-held electronic gaming devices. Finally, therecommended game play decision may be presented to the player at thecomputer workstation by means of an audible prompt instead of by meansof a visible prompt such as a dialogue box or a button.

The invention therefore provides a novel decision support system and amethod of operation thereof that enables a user to easily implementdifferent playing strategies in a game of blackjack in an on-lineenvironment.

1. A decision support system, comprising: a decision repository havingat least one stored game play decision for a particular hand held by aplayer and a corresponding first card held by a dealer, in a game ofblackjack; and a programming facility operable, selectively, by theplayer to amend the at least one stored game play decision.
 2. Adecision support system as claimed in claim 1 in which the decisionrepository has a stored game play decision for every possiblecombination of a particular hand held by the player in the game ofblackjack and a corresponding first card held by the dealer.
 3. Adecision support system as claimed in either one of claims 1 or 2 inwhich the stored game play decision is a recommended game play decisionfor the player.
 4. A decision support system as claimed in claim 3 inwhich the recommended game play decision is any one of a decision tohit, to stand, to split, to double, or to surrender.
 5. A decisionsupport system as claimed in claims 3 that includes a display facilityconfigurable to display to the player any recommended game play decisionfrom the decision repository, the recommended game play decisioncorresponding to a combination of a particular hand held by the playerin a turn of the game of blackjack and a corresponding first card heldby the dealer.
 6. A decision support system as claimed in claims 3 inwhich the decision support system is configurable to automaticallycontrol the progress of at least one turn of the game of blackjack inaccordance with any recommended game play decision from the decisionrepository, without intervention from the player.
 7. A method ofoperation of a decision support system, comprising the steps of:providing a decision repository having at least one stored game playdecision for a particular hand held by a player and a correspondingfirst card held by a dealer, in a game of blackjack; and selectivelyoperating a programming facility to amend the at least one stored gameplay decision.
 8. A method as claimed in claim 7 that includes the stepof storing in the decision repository a stored game play decision forevery possible combination of a particular hand held by the player inthe game of blackjack and a corresponding first card held by the dealer.9. A method as claimed in claim 8 that includes the further step ofrecommending a stored game play game play decision to the player when acombination of a particular hand is held by the player in the game ofblackjack and a corresponding first card is held by the dealer.
 10. Amethod as claimed in claim 9 that includes the step of recommending tothe player any one of a decision to hit, to stand, to split, to double,or to surrender.
 11. A method as claimed in either one of claims 9 or 10that includes the step of displaying to the player any recommended gameplay decision from the decision repository on a display facilityconfigurable to display to the player, the recommended game playdecision corresponding to a combination of a particular hand held by theplayer in a turn of the game of blackjack and a corresponding first cardheld by the dealer.
 12. A method as claimed in either one of claims 9 or10 that includes the step of automatically controlling the progress ofat least one turn of the game of blackjack in accordance with anyrecommended game play decision from the decision repository, withoutintervention from the player.